The high school senior class of 2020 is one of the most interesting group of kids in history. Most of us were born as the world was mourning the attack on 9/11 and we finish out our childhood and enter adulthood in the middle of a pandemic known as COVID-19. Of course everyone in the world has a right to be angry or upset about this, but put yourself in the class of 2020’s shoes before you say anything about the circumstances.

For starters I’ll bring the basics into perspective. The seniors have had their final seasons of sports, senior nights, prom, graduation, and having a proper goodbye to everything they’ve known for the past few years completely cancelled. For most kids put in this situation it can be absolutely heartbreaking. Have you ever worked so hard for something just to have it taken away from you in the end? The majority would say yes. Specifically for the adults, have you ever put so much extra time and effort in, to not get that promotion or raise, or maybe been looking forward to a huge event and then it got cancelled the day before? That’s how the seniors feel and it crushes each and every one of us.

Secondly high school definitely shapes who you are as a person. You discover the people you like and don’t like, you create your sense of style, you learn and create your own slang with your friends, and you create memories that could last a lifetime. The class of 2020 never got to live these last moments and create these last memories as we’ve been in quarantine for the past 6 weeks. These last few months have been hard on everyone because with a lot of free time can lead to overthinking and self reflection. I think I can speak for the majority of the senior class when I say we all feel like we’re having an identity crisis because we are not surrounded by what we thought was us.

Finally, let’s take into account that the last few months of senior year are already hard enough to do, and online school doesn’t make it any easier for most of us. Does the term senioritis ring a bell to former seniors? The ending time of the year where you don’t really want to do anything, and you just want to spend time with your friends so you tell the school you’re sick. Well now its hard because online school isn’t optional at least for Faith Lutheran specifically, and although you could just blow it all of and call it quits, colleges you’ve already decided on are still checking in on you and watching your grades and absences and you could potentially get kicked out of the college you’ve worked so hard to get into.

I stand strong in the belief that everyone is going through a hard time and all emotions towards this pandemic are valid, but the emotions of the class of 2020 should not be pushed into the category of everyone else’s.